Texans have made no apparent plans for life after Andre Johnson

Tuesday’s comments from Texans receiver Andre Johnson caught plenty of folks by surprise. His team should have seen it coming.

And yet the Texans have done nothing in free agency or the draft to prepare for the possibility that Johnson won’t be with the team that made him the third overall pick in the 2003 draft.

After a loss in November of last season, Johnson exchanged words with quarterback Matt Schaub before leaving the field and heading to the locker room with time left on the clock.

“I’m under contract so I have to play my contract out,” Johnson said after the game regarding his future in Houston. “I can’t do anything about that.”

What he can do is stay away from voluntary workouts, even though he risks losing a $1 million roster bonus that he’ll earn as of Week One if he participates in offseason workouts and fulfills all contractual obligations.

What he also can do is try to persuade the team to trade him or cut him. The team’s reluctance to do so may have something to do with the frustration and the “situation” he has experienced this offseason.

Apart from adding veteran Mike Thomas after the regular season ended, the Texans haven’t signed a free-agent receiver or drafted one.

It could be that the Texans plan to keep Johnson for 2014, hoping that improved performance by the franchise will make him more happy — or perhaps less unhappy. Or maybe they’re simply waiting to trade him to a team that may need a receiver. Maybe, for example, a team in Cleveland that may not have Josh Gordon for much longer.

They absolutely have. DeAndre Hopkins is going to be a badass in the league.

ttommytom says:May 13, 2014 10:46 PM

This should not come as a surprise. They just had the first pick in the draft.

bennyb82 says:May 13, 2014 10:48 PM

The only good reason to trade him would be for a franchise QB…and no team is trading their franchise QB for a receiver. Usually it is not a good idea for a team to go out of their way to make one player happy…but Johnson is a guy you want on your team and he has never been a problem.

Here’s an idea: show up for work, bust your ass, earn your ridiculous paycheck, and look good for your next team. Don’t be a whiny quitter! That’s not what The Browns are looking for!

dws123 says:May 13, 2014 10:51 PM

I see this turning into a trade scenario for Houston to acquire Ryan Mallet, but unfortunately that’s about all you’re going to get for AJ at this stage in his career. Would love to see him in a Browns uniform for a 3rd and/or 4th, but if Houston is smart they’ll be looking for a QB in return.

They got their DE at one again. Sweet! Where did the other one go, I don’t remember?

Lord Oswald Bupkis III says:May 13, 2014 10:57 PM

Andre is a true professional and will handle this situation in such a way. It obviously isn’t ideal for him at the moment, but if he isn’t playing for another team week one — and you can bet he won’t — he will give 100%. Despite all the disarray in Houston last season, this guy still amassed 1407 yards on 109 receptions.

Well they squandered his entire career so far so no surprise they don’t have a continuation plan considering there is no utilization plan apparently. Or maybe Tom Savage wins them the Super Bowl this year.

Stupid to leave the NFL where teams go from last to first in no time. The Texans will have approximately 40 million in cap space next year…and they’ll be right back in the playoffs in 2015. Once in the playoffs, anything can happen. Dont be dumb Andre…the team has bent over backwards to renegotiate two contracts with you because you wanted more money…and the team obliged.

Andre, You have nothing left to prove to any Houston fans, or any reasonable person. If you have a chance to win a SuperBowl in the next year or two, we will root for you to do just that.

Do what you need to do as a champion.

Sorry you’ll probably have to take a pay cut if you move to a better team, but most of us would trade our financial situation for yours, even if you never earned another football paycheck. So don’t make a pure money decision. But – Come back to a one day contract when you are ready to retire and be the first Texan in the HOF.

Or stay here and keep all that money. Maybe, just maybe, this defense can take the load off your shoulders. Steel blue and battle red are your best colors.

Either way, thank you. Either way, I hope you win the ring you deserve. Either way, here’s a Bum Phillips style hat tip, Andre – From a whole bunch of us that know what a real football player looks like.

I know it’s not realistic but I would love for him to be on the Raiders. We could have the cap room with a few 1’s and 0’s moved around and next year it wouldn’t be crippling either because a ton of one year contracts would drop and be taken over by rookie contracts….just a dreamer dreamin….

I fully support Andre wanting to play on a contender. He has been a loyal and amazing player for many years. I want him to get a ring. Would love to see him in Seattle, NE, GB, Denver, Philly, NO, or Carolina.

Mallet is completely unproven and never looks stunning in the pre-season. It’s a good point that he might be worse then Fitzpatrick. No one knows. However, if. Johnson wants to go and you may have to cut him, why not get something you need. Mallet could have way more value then a great receiver at the end. Hard to say. It would leave the cupboards bare at backup for the Patriots and with Brady at 37 yrs old it is a massive risk.. Garoppolo can’t win any games if Brady misses a few.

Andre has given up a lot to stay a Texan. This would be his third building/rebuilding phase.

Andre is doing what we always say we want our athletes to do. He is putting winning over money. If he gets traded he will have no guaranteed money, and he’ll most definitely have to take a pay cut. That’s not an issue here. Winning is more important to him than money.

I personally applaud him. I will miss him dearly. He is BY FAR my favorite Texan and the best player this franchise has ever seen. I hope he retires a Texan, but if that means he goes out and gets a ring elsewhere and comes back and signs a 1 day contract then so be it. If anyone deserves it… it’s Andre Johnson.

$12 million in DEAD money for 2014 for Houston to eat plus who wants to pay a WR this kind of money going forward $21 mill over 2 yrs and $30 million in cap charges.
The only way he plays anywhere else is he is released and signs a new deal with the acquiring team.
To me, the most productive receiver of his era. A shame professionally he has been in Houston his whole career.
Financially he has made repeated conscious decisions to extend,renegotiate, redo his contract all which meant, ‘im staying in Houston”.
he cant gripe now. He took $20 mill in guaranteed money. Again, noone forced his hand, he decided to stay as a Texan.

weepingjebus says:May 14, 2014 11:55 AM

I don’t get it — the Texans started 2-0 before I fell into the coma I just awoke from. How’d it go?

rick630c1 says:May 14, 2014 12:02 PM

Looking through the comments it seems like most people are missing a very obvious stumbling block, Andre is virtually untradeable. His cap hit this year is somewhere between 10 and 12 million and he is 32 years old. The free agency feeding frenzy is done with the teams overspending for everyone available and the draft is passed. So the question remains, what team has 10-12 million to spend with a need at WR, and then there is the age thing to consider as well. Also consider that Andre cannot be that teams long term solution at WR due to that age thing again. Oakland had a whole bunch of free cap space a month or so ago but is Oakland in any better shape than the Texans, i.e., would this satisfy Andre’s issue, I highly doubt it. To sum up my feelings, Andre and the Texans FO will work this out and Andre will be a Texan for at least 1 more year.

Apparently, they couldn’t do no wrong and thus they acted full of themselves.

_________________________________
What garbage.

Barwin wanted too much money. Money we needed to sign Cushing. He hasn’t set Philly alight.
Quin was a mistake.
Winston is/was a journeyman.
Ryans would have been a salary cap hit and was coming off torn achilles.
Casey was a utility player who hardly played in Philly.
Dressen went for more money in Denver.
Jones was average with the Texans, until he cost us the Ravens play-off game. No great loss at the time. Still drops his fair share in Baltimore.
Allen – Seriously?
Williams – Signed the highest contract for DL in league history. Not worth it.

I’m no great fan of Rick Smith, but you’re examples are horrible. There is a salary cap in the NFL. You can’t keep everyone. Of that group, the only obvious error is Quin.

As for Andre, we love him, but we’re not going to take $12m of dead salary cap to release him.

granadafan says:May 14, 2014 12:17 PM

Apparently the Texans didn’t make any plans for QB after Schaub either.

jebrunsman says:May 14, 2014 12:24 PM

If I’m Trent Baalke, I’m phoning with this offer:
Crab and a 6th for Andre…if Andre understands Niners have many great players and all want to be paid…Would he sacrifice money for titles? Would Crab want to be back home in Texas? Deal could put SF back in title contention…

realdealsteel says:
May 14, 2014 10:37 AM
Texans are stupid as a bag of rocks. Why keep a guy who’s 33 when he’s not going to be around when the team finally turns around?

Move him now and get something of value for him.

The Vikings are going to trade Peterson next year for the same reasons.

Be smart and move Johnson to a “win now” team like the 49ers and get good value for him. That’s what smart ball clubs do.

Remember the Herschal Walker deal Dallas did with Minnesota? Same thing.
———————————-
First of all Hershel was in his 20’s still. Second of all Adrian Peterson has serious GOAT potential. I don’t see the Vikings giving that up for peanuts, and I don’t see any team throwing picks and players at the Vikings in exchange.

ghost26 says:May 14, 2014 12:34 PM

thesmartest1 says: May 13, 2014 10:43 PM

You know when a true pro starts talking something is wrong.

Thesmartest1,

I couldn’t agree more. After 11 seasons as an elite player he’s on a team that is rebuilding.

And just stop with the Browns & how badly they need a WR. They sucked last year & that was w/ Josh Gordon who played better than any WR in the NFL last year & spare me w/ the Manziel garbage. He hasn’t even played a snap in the NFL & people are comparing him to Fran Tarkenton who is a HOFer. The hype around this kid is beyond ridiculous.

Clearly he wants a chance to win a SB & I don’t blame him.

ghost26 says:May 14, 2014 12:44 PM

The only teams I can see him going to that are contenders that probably have the cap space & could use a big time WR are the Patriots & the Chiefs. Carolina doesn’t have the space & the Browns are where QB’s go to die.

htown1035 says:May 14, 2014 1:19 PM

According to Joel Corry, one of the best cap experts out there, if they trade Andre before June 2nd the $10M in dead money ONLY counts this season. His $16M comes off the books next year at the same time that Schaub’s, OD’s, etc. contracts come off. This means conceivably the Texans could have not only extra picks but over $30M in cap space available next season.

The team isn’t going to be a playoff contender this season, especially with Fitzpatrick, Yates, Keenum, Savage, and anything else at QB, so the best move for the Texans to make would be to trade Andre before June 2nd, get the cap relief and build for the future. Even if they were contenders in 2-3 years, there’s little chance that Andre would be around at that time.

I love Andre, but as a business decision it’s clear what they need to do.